


Please Stay

by AnselaJonla



Category: Merlin - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-07
Updated: 2011-01-07
Packaged: 2017-10-14 22:59:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/154389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnselaJonla/pseuds/AnselaJonla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is ill and Gaius leaves Merlin to watch over him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Please Stay

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [](http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/profile)[**hc_bingo**](http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/) prompt “mysterious undiagnosed illness”. Betaed by the supremely awesome [](http://agenttrojie.livejournal.com/profile)[**agenttrojie**](http://agenttrojie.livejournal.com/).

  
  
  
  
**Entry tags:**   
|   
[-merlin](http://ruri-iro-kujaku.livejournal.com/tag/-merlin), [.arthur pendragon](http://ruri-iro-kujaku.livejournal.com/tag/.arthur%20pendragon), [.merlin](http://ruri-iro-kujaku.livejournal.com/tag/.merlin), [:arthur/merlin](http://ruri-iro-kujaku.livejournal.com/tag/%3Aarthur%2Fmerlin), [challenge: hc_bingo](http://ruri-iro-kujaku.livejournal.com/tag/challenge%3A%20hc_bingo), [rating: pg](http://ruri-iro-kujaku.livejournal.com/tag/rating%3A%20pg)  
  
---|---  
  
_**Please Stay**_  
 **Title:** Please Stay  
 **Author:** Ansela Jonla  
 **Fandom:** Merlin  
 **Rating:** PG  
 **Characters:** Arthur/Merlin, Uther, Gaius  
 **Warnings:** none  
 **Summary:** Arthur is ill and Gaius leaves Merlin to watch over him.  
 **Word count:** 1628  
 **Notes:** Written for the [](http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/profile)[**hc_bingo**](http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/) prompt “mysterious undiagnosed illness”. Betaed by the supremely awesome [](http://agenttrojie.livejournal.com/profile)[**agenttrojie**](http://agenttrojie.livejournal.com/).

“What is _wrong_ with him?” Uther demanded, not looking away from Arthur’s unconscious form. The prince lay still in his bed, unmoving, and breathing so slowly and shallowly he appeared to be dead.

“I am not certain, sire,” Gaius replied. “Not certain at all.”

“Not certain? What do you mean?”

“I mean that I have never seen anything like this in the past. I will need to consult with my texts to see if there is anything in there that may be of assistance.”

“Do whatever you must, Gaius. Arthur must _not_ die. I will _not_ allow it!”

“Of course, sire. I will do all that I can.” Gaius waved Merlin, who had been waiting quietly by the door, forward. “I will leave Merlin here to keep an eye on Prince Arthur.” Both men knew what Gaius truly meant: Uther needed to concentrate on running the kingdom, to act like everything was normal, to put on a brave front so as not to encourage their enemies.

“Of course. I trust you will do _all_ in your power to save my son.” Uther swept out of the room, his own manservant following in his wake. Gaius sighed and shook his head.

“Of course I will do all I can. Merlin, please call me if anything changes. I mean _anything_. Understood?”

“Yes, Gaius.” Merlin dropped ungracefully into the chair that Uther had just vacated, dumping an armload of shirts - ones that Gaius recognised as the mending Merlin had been doing the previous night - onto the bed. “I’ll make sure to call you if _anything_ happens in here.”

\--

Arthur blinked and then shook his head. He was surrounded by fog, or something. No, not fog. It was more like pure white light, coming from nowhere that he could, and everywhere that he could see. It was weird, and thinking about it hurt his head.

 _Prince Arthur._

 _Arthur._

 _Arthur Pendragon._

The voices came from the same nowhere and everywhere as the light, and echoed around as if Arthur was surrounded by invisible walls. They were mocking, scornful, as if the speakers detested Arthur and all he stood for.

A woman appeared in front of Arthur, materialising out of the light as if she was made of it. She smiled warmly at him, and the voices fell silent as she opened her mouth.

\--

Merlin tried to focus on the shirts he was meant to be mending for Arthur, but he couldn’t concentrate. Somehow Arthur was more distracting when he was being all still and pale and near death than when he was shouting and barking orders and throwing stuff at Merlin.

“What’s wrong with you?” he muttered, reaching for one of Arthur’s still hands. “Why won’t you wake up?”

\--

Arthur stared at the woman. He didn’t remember touching any _slæpdrenc_ plant. Not that he knew what such a plant looked like or anything. It wasn’t as if he went around touching random plants though, or had even been out of the castle for over a week.

“Is this plant fatal?”

“It depends.”

“It depends?”

“We will see.” The woman faded from view, fading back into the light as if she’d never been there.

\--

 _’Stay with him, Emrys. The Once and Future King needs you. You will know what to do when the time comes, Emrys.’_

Merlin jerked back into full awareness as the voice echoed through his mind. He’d been dozing off with Arthur’s hand held tight in his. Arthur was twitching now, his fingers moving in Merlin’s grip.

Merlin started to get up to call out into the hall for a guard to go fetch Gaius, but Arthur’s hands tightened around his fingers, halting him in his tracks. Merlin carefully sat back down, increasing the strength of his own grip in response.

Arthur’s face was still pale, but Merlin couldn’t help but feel some hope. He wasn’t lying so deathly still any more, that _had_ to count for something. It just had to; Merlin wouldn’t, _couldn’t_ give up on Arthur.

\--

Arthur wandered through the featureless whiteness, not knowing where he was going but not willing to stand still in this eerie place. The voices were still echoing around him, sounding no further away than when he woke.

There were new voices there though, indistinct and barely audible and most definitely unidentifiable. Arthur strained to try and understand the maddeningly familiar voices, but they remained unclear.

It was enough to drive a man insane.

\--

Arthur’s head was tossing from side to side now, as if he was caught in the throes of a nightmare. With his free hand, Merlin reached up to gently brush Arthur’s hair away from his sweat-soaked brow.

Much to Merlin’s surprise, his touch instantly calmed Arthur’s fevered thrashing. The prince’s breathing settled into a more regular rhythm, a more _natural_ one, as Merlin continued to stroke his hair.

Merlin settled more deeply into his chair. He didn’t know why Arthur was responding to him like this, or if he was the only one that Arthur would even respond to, but he didn’t dare move in case Arthur slipped back into a death-like sleep. If he fell again, maybe next time no one would be able to rouse him.

“Come on you clotpoll. Wake up. Please.”

\--

There were shadows now, grey-blues against the light, as featureless as the rest of Arthur’s surroundings. The voices came from them now, still tauntingly familiar or mockingly scornful in turns.

They faded whenever he approached them, and did not appear to hear his enquiries, his demands for answers. His only attempt to lunge at one, thinking to catch it off guard, had ended with him crashing straight through it, dispersing it like smoke from a fire, and crashing painfully to the ground.

He hadn’t thought dreams could hurt until then.

The shadowy figures were as oddly familiar as the indistinct voices. Not being able to put names to them was driving Arthur mad.

\--

Merlin felt helpless as Arthur silently pleaded with someone that Merlin couldn’t see.. His whole body was jerking now, as if he was a puppet dancing on invisible strings.

All Merlin could do was hold onto Arthur’s hand and stroke his hand, to calm Arthur’s convulsions enough that he didn’t accidentally throw himself from the bed and hurt himself, to try and be his guide back to the waking world.

“Please, Arthur. _Please_ , come back. We need you. _I_ need you!”

\--

 _Clotpoll._

 _We need you._

 _Come back._

 _Please._

 _Please._

 _I need you._

Arthur jerked to a halt. The shadow in front of him was clear now, as was the voice that echoed through his mind.

“Merlin!” Of all the people Arthur could _choose_ to dream about, his incompetent, useless, clumsy servant was not on the list, even if he did have a disturbing tendency to sneak in recently. “What are you doing here?”

\--

“Merlin!” Arthur’s voice was barely a whisper, but it was as loud as an alarm bell in the otherwise silent room.

 _’Now, Emrys. You have reached him, and now you must destroy the _slæpdrenc_ flower that caused his sleeping sickness. There is only one chance to wake the Once and Future King, Emrys. You must destroy the _slæpdrenc_ flower _ now _!’_

Merlin looked around for a _slæpdrenc_ flower, whatever one of those looked like. The only flowers in Arthur’s chambers sat on the dining table, far out of Merlin’s reach.

He glared at the flowers, willing them to burst into flames. He felt his magic surge through him and leap out to instantly incinerate the offending bouquet, leaving the vase they sat in completely unharmed.

\--

The light increased to a blinding level, and Arthur shielded his face with his arms to protect his eyes. Only one of his arms wouldn’t move. He could feel fingers entangled with his, and it felt like another hand was resting on his head.

“Arthur? You’re awake?” Merlin sounded desperate, like he had in Arthur’s dream. “Please, just say something.”

“You idiot.” It felt hard to talk; Arthur felt as drained as if he’d just been on a long run in full armour. “What happened?”

“You wouldn’t wake up. You looked like you were almost dead. Gaius didn’t know what was wrong with you. We thought you were _dying_.”

Arthur tried to shake his head, fighting against the exhaustion that held him. He was trying to ignore the voice in his head, the one of the woman from his dreams. What she was saying made no sense.

“Merlin,” he rasped eventually, “help me sit up.”

Merlin leaned in, close enough for Arthur to smell him. The voice was insistent now, whispering in his mind that he needed to do this. Arthur’s arm move almost of its own accord and pulled Merlin in even closer.

“Trust me,” he whispered. Merlin’s lips were rough against his, and firmer than Arthur had expected. He felt strength return to him as he deepened the kiss.

Merlin resisted for only a second before relaxing into the kiss. His fingers twined with those of Arthur's free hand and he pushed back against Arthur, pressing him deeper into the pillows and leaning over him.

Arthur could feel his cheeks burning fit to match Merlin’s own redness as they broke apart for air. Merlin started to pull away, stammering an apology, but Arthur tugged him back.

“Stay. Please.”


End file.
